Dumile's eccentric wordplay makes him a favorite of underground hip-hop fans. He is heavily influenced by American comic books (especially the Fantastic Four and their battles with Dr. Doom). Japanese science fiction is also an influence; the concept for King Geedorah (which is derived from Ghidorah) and the Monsta Island Czars comes from the Godzilla movie series. He is also renowned for bringing comedy back into the sometimes overly serious world of rap lyrics and a unique, sample-heavy production style.
Early Years with KMD
He was born in Southwest London, England on January 9, 1971 to a South African father and a West Indian mother; the family moved to New York and lived in Long Island where he was raised.
His debut in the world of rap music came when he devised the concept for, and guest-appeared on, the song "The Gas Face" by the rap group 3rd Bass, under the MC name Zev Love X along with his younger brother Subroc. Zev Luv X, Subroc, and another MC called Onyx The Birthstone Kid together formed the group KMD. Originally, "KMD" stood for "Kausing Much Damage," but before their first album they changed it to "a positive Kause in a Much Damaged society." KMD were all members of the Ansaar Allah community based in Brooklyn, New York. KMD signed with Elektra Records label under the A&R Dante Ross, who noticed KMD through the 3rd Bass record. KMD released 1991's Mr. Hood as part of a short-lived trend of conscious hip hop outings, along with labelmates Brand Nubian and other groups like Poor Righteous Teachers.
Subroc was accidentally struck and killed by a car in 1993 while attempting to cross a busy Long Island expressway, before the release of a second KMD album entitled Bl ck B st rds. The group was subsequently dropped from Elektra Records before the release of the album due to controversy over the album's cover art which featured a cartoon of a stereotypical pickaninny or sambo character being hanged from the gallows.
Birth of MF DOOM
Still dealing with the loss of his brother, Dumile became disillusioned and began to suffer from bouts of depression. He disappeared from the hip-hop scene from 1994-1997, and testifies to living "damn near homeless, walking the streets of Manhattan, sleeping on benches and shit." Shortly after this time, he left New York City and settled in Atlanta. According to interviews with DOOM, he was also "recovering from his wounds" and swearing revenge "against the industry that so badly deformed him." Meanwhile, Black Bastards was heavily bootlegged and Zev Love's legend grew. In 1997, he began appearing at the Nuyorican Poets Café at open mic events for rappers, although few people knew that the man freestyling with a stocking over his face was the former Zev. The imaginative MC began using new identity MF DOOM, inspired by the Marvel Comics supervillain Dr. Doom, and wearing a similar metal mask which he would not perform or be photographed without. The Dr. Doom style mask was eventually replaced with a replica of the mask Russell Crowe wore in the film Gladiator.
"My partner Lord Scotch came up with the design. Ill graffiti artist. He fabricated the mask out of...it was originally...you know that movie Gladiator? Son had the helmet piece on it with the mask on the front. We found an exact replica of the mask. He takes the faceplate off, attached that to the inside of a construction helmet, where you can tighten the helmet."
(MF stands for Metal Face (and his production name: Metal Fingers). MF Grimm gave the MF title to DOOM. Grimm's stands for Mad Flows. Grimm has since givin the MF title to other emcees).
The release of Operation: Doomsday in 1999 by independent label Fondle 'Em marked the official turning point for Dumile in his reinvention of himself from a major label recording artist of minor status to independent artist, where he would find his greatest success while maintaining the most control over his music.
Operation: Doomsday was received very well by underground listeners and was re-released in 2000. The following year, he began releasing albums of instrumental work, a series known as Special Herbs for several small record labels under the name Metal Fingers. He created an additional alter-egos King Geedorah as a member of Monsta Island Czars, a group consisting of MF Grimm and (currently) 14 other underground New York emcees who released their debut album in 2003.
Mainstream Recognition
MF DOOM was still far below the radar of mainstream press when two albums were released under new aliases by different labels in 2003. The first was Vaudeville Villain, released under the name Viktor Vaughn on Sound-Ink Records, and the second was King Geedorah's Take Me To Your Leader, released by Big Dada/Ninja Tune. Viktor Vaughn appears as solely a rap project - he has no production or executive producer credit on the album, but raps throughout the album - and alternately, King Geedorah is a conceptual production project. Although he raps on few of the songs on Take Me To Your Leader, the album is produced entirely by MF DOOM. Several of his long time collaborators appear as MCs.
DOOM's first commercial breakthrough came in 2004, with the album Madvillainy together with producer Madlib under the group name Madvillain. Released by Stones Throw Records, the album was a critical and commercial success. MF DOOM was seen by mainstream audiences for the first time as Madvillain received publicity and acclaim in publications such as Rolling Stone, New York Times, The New Yorker, and Spin. A video for "All Caps" and a 4-date U.S. tour followed the release of Madvillainy. An additional video for "Rhinestone Cowboy" and a segment from the tour are shown on the DVD Stones Throw 101.
DOOM was featured on the 2004 De La Soul release The Grind Date, MF DOOM rapping on the track "Rock Co.Kane Flow", which was also released as a single. Late in the year, DOOM's second solo album MM..Food was released by the Minnesota-based label Rhymesayers Entertainment, using various food items to metaphorically explain life and his own complex personality. As Viktor Vaughn he released his sophomore effort Venomous Villain (also called VV2), an album which received mixed reviews mostly critical of production values considered inferior to DOOM's recent work, and its short 33 minute length, with only 10 minutes featuring DOOM.
In 2005 MF DOOM took another step towards the commercial mainstream (while maintaining his independent artist status) with The Mouse and the Mask, a collaboration with producer DJ Danger Mouse released under the group name Danger Doom. The album was released on October 11, 2005 and frequently references characters from Cartoon Network's [adult swim]. He also voiced the giraffe named Sherman in [adult swim]'s Perfect Hair Forever; not coincidentally a song on The Mouse and the Mask called "Perfect Hair" references the cartoon extensively. Perfect Hair Forever did not debut officially on [adult swim] until a month after Danger Doom, so many listeners might not have gotten the references to Coiffio and Mt. Tuna. Also on this album, MF DOOM dissed M.I.C and MF Grimm in a song called "El Chupa Nibre" when he referred to the group as "midgets into crunk". MF Grimm released a retaliatory track titled "The Book of Daniel", which will appear on his album, American Hunger.
In 2005, MF DOOM appeared on two other Danger Mouse-produced projects: the Gorillaz album Demon Days, rapping on the song "November Has Come", and Danger Mouse's remix of Zero 7's "Somersault".
Current & Upcoming Projects
MF DOOM's creativity continues in 2006. DOOM produced several tracks on Ghostface Killah's Fishscale album released in April, and the two are currently at work on a collaboration album called Swift & Changeable due sometime in '07 on Lex Records (UK) & Nature Sounds (US). A new Danger Doom EP Occult Hymn was released via download on Adult Swim's website. The EP included new tracks: El Chupa Nibre Remix (again dissing the MIC with Monkeys Into Crime), Korn Dogz, Perfect Hair II, Sofa King Remix, Madlib's version of Space Ho's and a couple skits. DOOM is also planning to make another Madvillain album with producer Madlib, with one song first appearing on the [adult swim]/Stones Throw Records album Chrome Children, which also contains the first-ever live show by DOOM released on DVD.
He also plans to make another Danger Doom album with Danger Mouse.
Also in the works is his own record label Metal Face Records. Upon launching of the label, DOOM will release Hassan Chop's debut LP The Pen & The Sword. Another LP to be released on the label is The John Robinson Project - Who Is This Man?, due early '07, which is a collaboration between Lil Sci (of Scienz Of Life) and DOOM. Sci will handle the vocals and DOOM the production.
Personal Life
Dumile is rarely seen in public without a mask or hood on, and there exist no promotional photos or videos of his face post-KMD.
In an interview conducted on Independence Day in 2006 and published on his Myspace page, he stated that he is married, with two children, one of them teenage.
He currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
Hoe Cakes
Daniel Dumile Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
[MF Doom]
KEEP YA HOES IN CHECK!(..Super!)
I got this girl and she wants me to duke Her
I told her I'd come scoop her around 8, she said "Super!"
that sounds great, shorty girl's a trooper
no matter what I need her to do, she be like "Super!"
on the microphone he flossed the ring "Super!
average emcees is like a TV blooper
MF DOOM...hes like D.B. Cooper
out wit the moolah, I let her get a outfit
jus to cool her off she said niggaz ain't about shit
I wonder if she meant it, I doubt it
the way it be in her mouth, she can't live witout it
and can't live with this, handle yo bidness
villain'll stay on a scandalous hoes shit list
one pack of cookies please Mr. Hooper
its fun smackin rookies, he is the "Super!"
look like a black wookie when he let his beard grow
weirdo, brown skin'ded always kept his hair low
rumor has it its a S-curl accident
DOOM was always known to keep the best girls backs bent
some say its the eyes, some say the accent
a lotta guys wonder where they stacks went
I call her thunder thighs, with the fatty swolla
only mess wit high rollas, do what daddy told her
no matter the city she with me to do the thang thang
work in the coochie, hooptie chitty chitty bang bang
same name on the titty as on the name ring
pretty like Baby D off "all in the same gang"
keep my eye on her really don't trust her
but I treat her like a daughter, taught her how to bust a nut
and the heat to turn beef to horsemeat chalupa
teach her how to hold it, of course he is the "Super!"
see most cats treat her like foofer
or beat her to a stupor, take it from the "Super!"
ya need to make her feel cuter
and lay down the G like Luther, everythin'll be "Super!"
do for her, keep her in a new fur
so she look sweet when she go to meet the "Super!"
got the buddha get the Grenadiers, twist it
put it in the air, come 'ere, kiss it
listen here scooter, let her try to bag you
when she's on the rag never let her fry the Ragu
which will have you under some type of spell crying "dag boo"
her name on ya back in her tattoo
whether a bourgie broad, nerd hoe, street chick
don't call her wifey if you met her at the freaknick
you don't want her don't waste her time, I'll dupe her
oh and be a father to ya child like the "Super!"
he keep his hoes in check
sends 'em out to get glows from off frozen necks
tell 'em take his clothes, leave him posin nekkid for real
better yet, get 'em for the check off the record deal
find out where he keep the tek an the blue steel
make sure for extra wreck let 'em know how you feel
and while he's runnin down to all star weekend to ball
I'm comin with the U-HAUL!(Super!)
(..Super!) (...Super!)
The song "Hoe Cakes" by Daniel Dumile, also known as MF DOOM, focuses on the rapper's experiences with various women. It begins with an introduction calling for all women to be kept in check, showing the misogynistic tendencies often present in hip-hop music. The lyrics then describe a woman who wants to be with the rapper and is willing to do anything for him. She is called a "trooper," and the rapper mentions how she can't live without the money and validation he provides. This woman is referred to as a "hoe" throughout the song, which is a derogatory term for a promiscuous woman.
The song goes on to describe various encounters with different women. Some of them are referred to as "high rollas" who only want money and status from the rapper. One woman is called "thunder thighs" and is characterized as being sexually available to the rapper. The lyrics also suggest that the rapper has taught this woman how to perform sexual acts and how to deal with conflict. The song ends with the rapper reassuring the listener that he treats his women well and takes care of his children.
Overall, the song reinforces negative stereotypes about women and perpetuates a culture of misogyny in hip-hop. The lyrics objectify and demean women, portraying them as nothing more than sexual objects or gold diggers. While MF DOOM is well-known for his unique style and clever wordplay, this song highlights some of the problematic themes present in his music.
Line by Line Meaning
KEEP YA HOES IN CHECK!(..Super!)
The singer is giving advice to his listeners to keep their women in line and then reinforces the message by chanting 'Super!'
I got this girl and she wants me to duke Her
The singer has a girl who wants to be intimate with him.
I told her I'd come scoop her around 8, she said "Super!"
The singer has arranged to meet the girl at 8 PM, and she thinks it's great.
that sounds great, shorty girl's a trooper
The girl is willing to do whatever he needs her to do.
no matter what I need her to do, she be like "Super!"
Again, the girl is willing to do whatever the artist asks her to do and is happy about it.
own his own throne, the boss like King Koopa
The singer sees himself as a powerful and successful figure, much like the video game character King Koopa.
on the microphone he flossed the ring "Super!
The singer is amazing on the microphone and shows off his skills to the fans.
average emcees is like a TV blooper
Most other rappers are seen as a comedic mistake on the artist's level.
MF DOOM...hes like D.B. Cooper
The artist is compared to D.B. Cooper - a notorious criminal who famously hijacked a plane and then disappeared.
out wit the moolah, I let her get a outfit
The artist has money and is willing to spend it on the girl.
jus to cool her off she said niggaz ain't about shit
The girl is complaining about guys not being committed, but the singer is not very concerned about this.
I wonder if she meant it, I doubt it
The artist is skeptical that the girl's comment was genuine.
the way it be in her mouth, she can't live witout it
The girl is saying things she doesn't really mean, and the singer thinks she needs him.
and can't live with this, handle yo bidness
The singer is reminding his listeners to take care of their responsibilities and handle their business.
villain'll stay on a scandalous hoes shit list
The singer warns that if you mistreat women, you will be labeled as a villain and become the subject of gossip.
one pack of cookies please Mr. Hooper
The artist is requesting cookies from Mr. Hooper, who is most likely a reference to the fictional character in Sesame Street.
its fun smackin rookies, he is the "Super!"
The artist enjoys putting newer rappers in their place and considers himself to be a 'Super'ior rapper.
look like a black wookie when he let his beard grow
The singer is making a humorous comparison between himself and the creature from Star Wars, Chewbacca.
weirdo, brown skin'ded always kept his hair low
The singer has a peculiar appearance, but it is always consistent.
rumor has it its a S-curl accident
There is a rumor that the artist's hairstyle was caused by a mishap with a type of hair treatment.
DOOM was always known to keep the best girls backs bent
The artist has a reputation for being skilled in the bedroom.
some say its the eyes, some say the accent
People give different reasons for why the artist attracts women.
a lotta guys wonder where they stacks went
Other men are envious of the singer's financial success with women.
I call her thunder thighs, with the fatty swolla
The artist has given the girl a nickname that references her larger physique.
only mess wit high rollas, do what daddy told her
The girl only associates with wealthy and important men and does what the singer tells her to do.
no matter the city she with me to do the thang thang
The girl travels with the singer to have sex.
work in the coochie, hooptie chitty chitty bang bang
The singer is making a crude joke about sexual activity in a car.
same name on the titty as on the name ring
The girl has the same name tattooed on her breast as the one on the artist's ring.
pretty like Baby D off "all in the same gang"
The girl is physically attractive, like a character from a hip-hop group called 'All in the Same Gang.'
keep my eye on her really don't trust her
The singer watches the girl closely even though he doesn't trust her.
but I treat her like a daughter, taught her how to bust a nut
The singer is protective of the girl and has taught her sexual techniques.
and the heat to turn beef to horsemeat chalupa
The artist has taught her how to handle confrontations and turn a potentially dangerous situation into a harmless one.
teach her how to hold it, of course he is the "Super!"
The artist has instructed the girl on how to use firearms and is once again referring to himself as a 'Super'ior figure.
see most cats treat her like foofer
Most men mistreat the girl and don't treat her with respect or kindness.
or beat her to a stupor, take it from the "Super!"
Some men are so cruel that they lead the girl to a state of unconsciousness, but the singer is the expert on how to treat her properly and kindly.
ya need to make her feel cuter
Men should make the girl feel attractive and confident.
and lay down the G like Luther, everythin'll be "Super!"
If the man treats the girl right and pays her well, everything will be great, similar to how Luther Vandross might lay down a soulful melody.
do for her, keep her in a new fur
The singer encourages men to financially provide for their women and keep them well-dressed in fur coats.
so she look sweet when she go to meet the "Super!"
The woman should dress nicely when meeting the singer, which reinforces his ego and status.
got the buddha get the Grenadiers, twist it
The artist has purchased marijuana and high-end liquor to consume with the girl.
put it in the air, come 'ere, kiss it
The artist wants the girl to smoke and drink with him, and then be intimate with him.
listen here scooter, let her try to bag you
The singer advises his listeners to let the girl try to pursue them, but still be cautious.
when she's on the rag never let her fry the Ragu
If the girl is menstruating, the singer advises men to not engage in sexual activity with her.
which will have you under some type of spell crying "dag boo"
Ignoring the previous advice and pursuing the girl when she is menstruating can lead to negative consequences and regret.
her name on ya back in her tattoo
The girl has tattooed the man's name onto her back.
whether a bourgie broad, nerd hoe, street chick
The artist doesn't discriminate among different types of girls - either wealthy, nerdy, or from the streets.
don't call her wifey if you met her at the freaknick
The singer warns his audience to not call a girl their 'wife' if they just met her at a party like Freaknik, which was a popular spring break event for black college students in the 90s.
you don't want her don't waste her time, I'll dupe her
If you're not interested in the girl, the artist advises to not waste her time and gives the impression that he will 'dupe' her for himself.
oh and be a father to ya child like the "Super!"
The singer encourages men to be responsible fathers to their children, much like how he is a 'Super'ior figure to his women.
he keep his hoes in check
The singer is reinforcing his earlier message about keeping women in line.
sends 'em out to get glows from off frozen necks
The singer has his women steal jewelry from people's necks for him.
tell 'em take his clothes, leave him posin nekkid for real
The women are instructed to also steal clothing from the man and leave him exposed and vulnerable.
better yet, get 'em for the check off the record deal
The women should also be targeting musicians and actors for their wealth and record deals.
find out where he keep the tek an the blue steel
The women are told to discover where the man stores his weapons.
make sure for extra wreck let 'em know how you feel
If there are any confrontations, the women should make their emotions clear and be extra aggressive.
and while he's runnin down to all star weekend to ball
The victim will be unaware while he is out enjoying All-Star Weekend for basketball.
I'm comin with the U-HAUL!(Super!)
The artist will come and steal everything the man owns with a U-Haul and reinforces his superiority by chanting 'Super!.'
(..Super!) (...Super!)
The artist chants 'Super!' to end the song and further showcase his arrogance.
Contributed by Ava N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.